Our #Take12Trips Challenge

Wow we can’t believe we’re already a quarter of the way through 2016! We thought it would be fun to provide an update on our 12 trips in 12 months effort so far and our plans going forward. We’d also love to hear from those of you joining us in the challenge on where you’ve been and where you’re planning to go.

If you missed our original #Take12Trips post, be sure to check it out. Our New Year’s Resolution is to travel more often and travel differently, and it’s working!

How We’re Going to Travel More in 2016

January

DSC_0286

Stephanie started off the year in Florida visiting the Florida Keys and Everglades National Park. Later in January she also took an overnight trip to the Chattanooga area with a fantastic stay at the Chanticleer Inn.

The Beechwood Inn - www. AFriendAfar.com

Meagan’s January trip took her to the beautiful and delicious Beechwood Inn in Clayton, Georgia.

February

Meagan and Steph biking

We took a fun girls trip to coastal Georgia! First we went to St. Marys where we stayed at the lovely Spencer House Inn. Then we hopped over to Cumberland Island for a night at the stunning Greyfield Inn.

March

1842 Inn - A Macon Bed & Breakfast

March took Stephanie on a brief trip to Phoenix to catch a spring training game with her husband Ed. Meagan & Ryan did a weekend trip to Macon to stay at the 1842 Inn!

whale watching

We both went to Irvine, California for the Women in Travel Summit (WITS) 2016! Read a little about our experience there on our new friend Lindsay’s blog I’ve Been Bit. The night before we flew back home we went whale watching with Captain Dave’s and saw 5 grey whales. It was pretty exciting!

April

20160402_125319-1.jpgMeagan is more than a little in love with her day job. The Carter Center just held a staff retreat in Plains, Georgia, home of President and Mrs. Carter, and Meagan and her husband went to check out the small town. It’s the perfect example of a tiny southern town. The shops that you see above are all that make up downtown Plains, and that’s incredibly charming. Naturally, there’s a lot of President Carter pride there.

Stephanie is headed to Dubai and Durham, North Carolina for work in April! She’s hoping to have a bit of time to explore both.

May

iceland

[Photo credit: Ulrich Latzenhofer]

In early May, Stephanie is headed to the DC area for work and is also doing a girls weekend with two friends who live in the area to the Eastern shore of Maryland. Mid-month she’s headed to Iceland to do a trip around the Ring Road and is looking forward to seeing the original Geysir, waterfalls, ponies, lagoons and more! Photo credit

Meagan and her husband are heading to Istanbul for the first leg of their trip and will be there on their 5th wedding anniversary. They’ll be spending nights on both the Asian side of the Bosphorus in Kadikoy and the European side in Sultanahmet.

June

kasbah du toubkal

[Photo Credit: Kasbah du Toubkal]

After Istanbul, Turkey, Meagan and Ryan are headed to Marrakech, Morocco! They’ll be spending a few days in the city before heading out to the majestic High Atlas mountain range to stay at the Kasbah du Toubkal in Imlil. Can you believe that view?

Stephanie is dreaming about a domestic National Park visit for June but doesn’t have definite plans yet.

July

Stephanie is in the early stages of planning an epic Sound of Music tour of Austria, visiting WWII sites in Germany and maybe a visit to Prague in the Czech Republic.

Meagan has too many ideas, but none of them are concrete. Does anyone have a ticket to Hamilton that they’d like to share?

August & September

We’re both headed to Ireland with our husbands for the Georgia Tech versus Boston College American football game in Dublin! We can’t wait to explore the city and also see some of the iconic Irish countryside. If you’ve been, please give us your tips below since we’re still planning our trip!

October-December

At this point we just have ideas but nothing firm planned! Stephanie is dreaming about celebrating her three year wedding anniversary at Big Bend National Park in October. She also wants to visit Biltmore Estates in Asheville in December to see it all decorated for Christmas!
Meagan wants to take the Blue Ridge Scenic Railroad through the North Georgia Mountains and is also looking at a trip with Georgia Conservancy.

What About You?

Where have you been so far this year? Do you have any exciting trips on your calendar? We’d love to hear all about them in the comments below.

If you have tips for any of our upcoming destinations, we’re all ears!

How to Travel More Often

#12 Trips How to Travel More

Meagan grew up in the North Georgia Mountains and spent her first trip abroad in Italy. She’s been traveling all over the world ever since, learning Spanish, Japanese, and Thai. She travels for the food, the culture, and the history.

2 thoughts on “Our #Take12Trips Challenge

  1. XX, Will Travel says:

    Looks like a lot of amazing trips! I (Kathy) just got back from my 2nd trip to Dubai in February. If you have time, you have to go for Saturday brunch. It’s an entire, over-the-top, multi-course thing. I went for brunch and stayed so long that the place transformed into a club and I didn’t get home until 2 AM. I’d expect nothing less from Dubai.

    We also just did a podcast on Iceland where we interviewed the co-founder of the Iceland Writers Retreat, Eliza Reid. She is such a cool lady and has lived there for 12 years, so that might be worth a listen, too. http://xxwilltravel.podbean.com/e/episode-20-iceland-with-eliza-reid/
    XX, Will Travel recently posted…Louisville: A Trip in BoozeMy Profile

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